Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
Voters in Ohio dropping lawsuit over election
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Voters challenging the presidential election results in the Ohio Supreme Court asked to drop their lawsuit yesterday, saying it is moot with last week's certification of the electoral vote and the upcoming inauguration.
Citing fraud, lawyers representing 37 voters had asked the court to examine problems with voting procedures in hopes of overturning President Bush's victory in the state. They pointed to long lines, a shortage of voting machines in predominantly minority neighborhoods and problems with computer equipment.
Chief Justice Thomas Moyer must rule on the motion to dismiss the case, but is expected to go along with the request. In a ruling last month declining a request that he remove himself from the case, Moyer, a Republican, called voters' evidence "woefully inadequate."
Attorney Cliff Arnebeck said challenges of the results would continue in state or federal courts. But he conceded there was nothing available to try to prevent Bush's inauguration.
"We are not quitting. We are going on to any other forum that's available and we intend to pursue those avenues aggressively," Arnebeck said.
Mark Weaver, an attorney representing the Bush campaign, said, "This lawsuit was going be dismissed by the Supreme Court because it has no merit. It looks like the people who filed it understood that."